Christmas Haul: Mr. Bird's Christmas Fruit & Nut Bell

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Right before New Year's, I mentioned that I got a new leaf blower for Christmas, but it wasn't all that I received.  Above, you see one of a few different birding-related gifts that the kids gave me.  This one is Mr. Bird's Fruit and Nut Christmas Bell.  From Duncraft's site, they can share with you all the little treats in this thing:
Contains pecans, sunflower seed, safflower seed, sunflower chips, peanuts, cherries, cranberries, raisins, apple and papaya.
It has proven popular with birds AND squirrels, but so far, the baffle has worked and most of this bell is still in place despite the squirrels having figured out it exists.   I'll post some of the other bird-related items (including some squirrel-proof ones!) in the next few days, but we've had some good luck this winter attracting some of our feathered friends to our feeders and bath that are stationed right outside of our kitchen windows.  The kids eat breakfast and get to take in the little visitors most mornings.

We tried some squirrel diversion tactics like stationing a 'big ole kob' on a bungee cord on the far side of the yard to keep them away from the feeders, but some critter took off with the whole thing:  kob and cord and hook and all.  Musta been a big guy, right?  Maybe once the Spring comes, we'll give another kob a try or maybe even try building our very own 'munch box' for the guys to dig around and find some peanuts.

Update:  And...it's gone!  Yep.  Ripped right off the hook, despite being under a big baffle.  A critter - maybe a squirrel - absconded with this thing after just a few days of being out in the yard.

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